Upgrade!

Although this is not breaking news, I was sure happy when I found out, so I wanted to pass it along to you.  Grocery shopping in the Houston Heights is about to get a major upgrade.  The Signature Kroger on North Shepherd at 11th Street is scheduled for a total face lift.  I, for one, cannot wait.

If you live in the Heights then you know what a struggle grocery shopping can be.  Especially if you are selective about what you eat or where you shop.  Many of the grocery stores in the area are older and smaller and lack the choices and comfort that affluent shoppers have come to expect and demand.  That leaves many diet-smart consumers no choice but to look somewhere other than home for their grocery needs.  Although I have shopped at this Kroger since moving to the Heights in '07 (I've always been a Kroger guy, you know), I know people who have lived in the Heights for years who continue to drive to River Oaks or Westheimer for their groceries.

Fortunately for all, that will no longer be necessary.  

Kroger has acquired the old bank next door and the Exxon station on the corner (already gone) and plans to double their square footage inside and add a Kroger Gas Station on the corner!

According to Rosendo, the Customer Service Manager, there will be an invigorated focus on fresh products as well as healthy and organic brands.  A plan designed to woo the "foodie" and health-conscious shoppers now driving all the way to Whole Foods or Central Market.

The new space will allow for expansion of all the fresh food departments.  It will also make space for a "hot food" bar, a salad bar, a sushi bar and, of course, a Starbucks.  A larger selection of fine wine and beer will also be included, filling a painful whole in the in the "dry" Heights marketplace.

The plan, I'm told, is to build and renovate the store within the next 8-10 months and the pumping station could be ready as early as June!

Heights residents are intelligent and demanding shoppers who make informed, healthy choices when spending their grocery dollars.  It is about time the Heights got a grocery store equal to the varied and complex palate of it's residents.

Although, honestly, the produce selection will be hard pressed to rival local mainstay, Canino's Market, at least my weekly shopping trek will be down to just two stops.